The real story of Web 2.0: Advertising 2.0 — The real story of Web 2.0 has little to do with the bells and whistles and everything to do with the stunning growth of online advertising. If you look there is a valley between the dotcom spending days (99/2000) and today …

Huh? YouTube Sends TechCrunch A Cease & Desist — Buried in my email this evening I found a cease and desist letter from an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, representing their client YouTube. We've been accused of a number of things: violating YouTube's Terms of Use, of …

'Second Life' faces threat to its virtual economy — Groups of Second Life content creators were gathering digitally Tuesday to protest the dissemination of a program they worry could badly damage the virtual world's nascent economy. — The controversy gathered steam Monday when Linden Lab …

Physics promises wire-less power — The tangle of cables and plugs needed to recharge today's electronic gadgets could soon be a thing of the past. — US researchers have outlined a relatively simple system that could deliver power to devices such as laptop computers or MP3 players without wires.

Google Adds Public Event Search — Google has added public event search within its Google Calendar, a nice little piece of integration that overlaps with what a lot of startups are doing. — The event aggregation space has recently been strengthened by outside investment …

Low-profile HTC is a powerhouse — HTC may be the most successful cellphone company you've never heard of. — Like Motorola and Nokia, the Taiwanese company designs, builds and sells wireless devices to carriers around the world. But its name — short for High Tech Computer …

NBC Official Is Expected to Join AOL — Randy Falco, the president of the NBC Universal Television Group, is in talks to leave his position as the No. 2 executive at the television group to take a senior operating role at AOL, Time Warner's Internet subsidiary, according to executives briefed on the move.

Qihoo raises $20M for new Web 2.0 search engine — Qihoo, a fast-growing but controversial Chinese search engine for Web 2.0 content, has raised $25 million more in a second round of venture capital from credible U.S investors. — This is significant because Qihoo has launched a new kind of search engine …

Zune moving at slow tempo — SAN FRANCISCO—Though Microsoft's answer to Apple Computer's iPod juggernaut officially went on sale nationwide Tuesday, the Zune wasn't exactly flying off the shelves in downtown San Francisco. — At two retail outlets, the new media player wasn't even on the shelves.

Zuned Out — Last night when I came home, Roy, doorman of our building, handed me a big brown box. It was from Microsoft, and my best guess was that it was the new Zune device. One of the last media folks to get hold of this device, I knew that I could wait till morning to open it, and perhaps give the new device a whirl.

Wireless Internet's new target: Seattle homes — At Seattle's 1962 World's Fair, the Space Needle stood as a symbol for what the future would bring. — Today, the landmark is signifying something no one would have ever imagined 44 years ago. — Clearwire, wireless pioneer Craig McCaw's latest venture …

Ten Spammers Create 80 Percent Of Spam — Email users in North America and Europe who find themselves plagued with the incessant bombardment of spam can blame ten spammers singled out by junk mail fighter Spamhaus for the unwanted messages. — The Spamhaus list of the world's worst hardcore …

Happy Halo Day — Happy Halo Day! — Today marks the five-year anniversary of Halo and to commemorate this occasion, Microsoft just revealed a few tantalizing announcements for fans of the franchise. You may have already read the details online elsewhere but we thought it'd be best …